Three Poems of Juan Ramón Jiménez
"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way"
I'm yet to lay my hands on Eloise Roach's work and Robert Bly's attempts should be tried for murder. So here we go…
“I just once said it in passing...”
I just once said it in passing --
with no wish to impress --
I like to see in the springtime
love being snowy dressed.
She raised her eyes ever so briefly,
the glance was so blue and so mild,
and only a faint smile transcended
her lips like it does with a child.
Now, when I’d cross the square
walking through May’s fading lights,
she would stand in the doorway,
serious, wearing white.
“Yo dije que me gustaba …”
Yo dije que me gustaba
— ella me estuvo escuchando
que, en primavera, el amor
fuera vestido de blanco.
Alzo sus ojos azules
y se me qued; mirando,
con una triste sonrisa
en los virjinales labios.
Siempre que cruce su calle,
al ponerse el sol de mayo
estaba seria, en su puerta,
toda vestida de blanco.
****
We thought that everything was broken,
forever lost and torn apart...
But even so the truth was smiling
and waited deep inside the heart.
A tear on the frozen window
glowed like a little drop of blood!..
But even so the truth was smiling
and waited deep inside the heart.
A scorched to black under cold sleet day
was offering no new start...
But even so the truth was smiling
and waited deep inside the heart.
****
Creimos que todo estaba
roto, perdido, manchado...
— Pero, dentro, sonreia
lo verdadero, esperando. —
Lagrimas rojas, calientes,
en los cristales helados!..
— Pero, dentro, sonreia
lo verdadero, esperando. —
Se acababa el dia negro,
revuelto en frio mojado...
— Pero, dentro, sonreia
lo verdadero, esperando. —
I Am Not I
I am not I.
There is someone else
Who I feel walking beside me;
Who at times I can nearly discern,
And at times forget altogether.
Who falls silent when I am so wordy,
Who forgives when I cannot let go,
Who wanders, free, where I never dare,
Who will remain standing when I am not anymore.
Yo no soy yo
Yo no soy yo.
Soy este
que va a mi lado sin yo verlo;
que, a veces, voy a ver,
y que, a veces, olvido.
El que calla, sereno, cuando hablo,
el que perdona, dulce, cuando odio,
el que pasea por donde no estoy,
el que quedar; en pie cuando yo muera.